


The Changing of a Beast

by AGMegan101



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Major Original Character(s), New chapter posting every two weeks, Was on FF.net, bromance between dick and wally just because, but that site's dead, so now it's here, story is finished though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-15 22:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11240571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AGMegan101/pseuds/AGMegan101
Summary: She is a beast, a weapon, a thing. Since she was a young child, it has been forced to do whatever the Masters wished. Its whole life changes after the Team stops a drug cartel. Everything it knew about the world is changed.First season characters only.(Originally posted on FF.net)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, dudes. This is the revamp of my original story. The notes at the end of the chapters are going to be from future Cara's life because you guys are amazing and deserve it. If you have anything you want to see, lemme know.

**OUTSIDE OF CASPER, WYOMING.**

**March 30, 13:45 EST**

The shadows sprawled through the night like a parasitical disease, cloaking everything it came in contact to with darkness. The only light in the area came from the lone warehouse outside of the city. Even then, only tiny inklings of light filtered through the blinds. Two figures were crouched on an overlooking hill, using the current darkness to their advantage. When of them was significantly larger than the other - both in muscle and in height. The smaller one had a cape wrapped around his shoulders matching the mask he wore in color.

Without speaking audibly, he relayed a message to the boy beside him; the two were telepathically linked, along with the rest of their team. "Is he in there?"

The more muscular of the two blinked before squinting at the warehouse in front of them. All of a sudden, his normal vision was replaced with that of the pink tinted x-ray vision - a gift from one of his genetic sponsors. He was about to return to his normal _human_ vision before he noticed something strange in a corner of the room that the smuggler, Ramón, was in.

[unimportant]

He didn't report it. "He has about ten armed men. Lots of weapons."

There was a moment of silence before Robin spoke. Aqualad was out patrolling with Aquaman. Robin was the next logical candidate for leadership. "We'll continue with the normal plan. Artemis, you're with Kid Mouth. M'gann, you're with me and Superboy." He waited a moment before giving them the all clear.

As if a gun was shot, the five of them sprang into action. They were a team and their actions showed it. Artemis and Kid Flash burst in through the main entrance. Half of the armed combatants left their original post to oppose the costumed heroes. The other half, however, stayed. Superboy quickly relayed this information to Robin.

In unison, Robin, Superboy, and M'gann snuck into the back of the warehouse, cloaked by M'gann's Martian talents. They landed quietly, moving around to form a loose semi-circle around Ramón. The armed men sprang into action the moment M'gann let down her grip. While fighting the men, the majority of the group didn't notice the weapon dealer run through a door, towards the back of the warehouse.

 

**OUTSIDE OF CASPER, WYOMING.**

**March 30, 14:05 EST**

It heard the door open. Carefully, it sat up and listened. The fight outside had woken it and it was curious as to what was going on. Between the noise of gunshots, it could hear Master's heavy footsteps. The door opened and closed quietly.

[male, hair gel, sweat, cologne]

The boy that had come in cackled before hiding himself in the shadows. Through the cover of the cage it could hear Master's heavy footsteps running towards it. It could smell his fear. Apparently, whoever was fighting them were _good_.

[ _nononono_ ]

Master pulled the cover up slightly so he could jam the key into the lock. He cursed as his shaking hands missed the lock. " _Prepárate_."

It shifted into an Asian Leopard Cat [ _painbonesbloodfurpainpainrip_ ] and prepared to pounce the moment that the cage was unlocked. However, before the door could be opened, Master yelped. He was dragged away from the cage and the cover fell back into place. Hesitantly, it shifted back into the natural form. It heard the door open again and could smell three people enter the room. It bit the lip as it heard an extra pair of footsteps.

[ _nobadmalfunction_ ]

"You guys okay?" It was a young boy. "I got the dealer. We need to get all the weapons onto the ship so we can get them back to the cave."

The scentless one spoke next. "There's someone else in here. I can hear her."

The heart thudded. It held its breath. 

The room went quiet and it held perfectly still. Long, thin fingers held onto the tail, the pointed tip nervously flicking. After a few minutes, it could hear the group surrounding the cage.

[Were they going to hurt her?]

[ _pleasenomore_ ]

Often, after it was stolen, its new owners would beat it so it would know its place. [ _itwouldneverforget_ ] The body started to shake as the group came closer. [traitor]

"KF, look out!" There was a scuffle of movement, a curse in Spanish, and then it went quiet again. Two people stayed by the cage while the other three moved towards Master.

"What is this? Is it like for a bomb or something?" It heard the click of metal against fingernails and it winced, careful not to move. 

[ _theremotenononononopainno_ ] 

"I won't tell you anything, _chica_. Why don't you press the button and find out what it is." Master laughed. She heard a few light footsteps and then a girl spoke.

"You know how you said you could hear another person in here. This is for... _them_."

"Artemis, hand me the remote please. M'gann, are _they_ in the... cage?"

It had to breathe. 

[itwasfound]

It heard the group surround her. Suddenly, the cover on the cage fluttered, then began to float upwards.


	2. Chapter Two

It blinked the eyes once, then twice again as the bright light hit it. The mixed group in front of it stared. The eyes immediately found the one that was its new Master.

[ _smallconfidentblackhairthincommanding_ ]  
  
"Is she a hostage? I mean, she is in a cage." The green-skinned girl flew slightly towards the trapped… _thing_ in front of her. Ramón laughed, gelled hair fell out of place as he shook his head. Quickly, the girl with the bow and arrows drew her weapon and aimed it at the man cautiously.  
  
"That is not a hostage, _imbécil_. That is a weapon. Do not let it fool you." The group sent each other concerned looks before the green girl approached its old master. She laid a hand on his bare head and the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed limply onto the ground.  
  
The shortest member, its new Master, approached it carefully, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as he thought. He studied it with the same calculating gaze that it studied the prey given to it. It averted its eyes, looking at Master's boots, and attempted to make itself appear smaller and less of a threat. The tail curled around its legs, the extra teeth flipped backwards to the roof of its mouth, the claws retracted.  
  
"Uh, I'm Robin." Master said awkwardly, "What's your name?"

[ _nononononononotformenamesareforpeople_ ]

The eyes blinked. What answer would Master want? It swallowed the bile rising in its throat. "It will answer to any name."

[ _wrong_ ]  
  
The group exchanged worried glances. It grimaced and bent the head down lower, to protect it from any blows that might come. [ _pleasenonomoreplease_ ] 

None came. Carefully, Master asked another question, concerned by her sudden flinch. "What do you mean by 'master'?"

It licked the lips, careful to hide the fangs from view. [ _itwouldnotbebad_ ]

It though carefully. If the last answer didn't please Master, would this one? With every new master it had, it was like walking on thin ice. It had to learn through trial and error. [ _wrongwrongwrong_ ] "It belongs to you."

Master's face went blank, all expression vanishing. Instead of replying, he flipped his hand and a lock picking device sprung out of his glove. He approached it wordlessly.

He paused, his hand hovering in front of the lock as he glanced back to the strange group that had arrived with him. 

 

[ _The green one was shaking_ ]

[ _The scentless one was_ glaring _at it_ ]

[ _WRONGITWASWRONGWRONGWRONG_ ]

[ _The yellow one was frowning_ _and his lips moved_ ]

[ _No_ _sound came out_ ]

[ _the blonde one was looking upwards_ ]

[ _strange_ ]

 

Master looked back towards it and unlocked the cage. Green gloved fingers passed through the bars and pulled the door open. He watched it for a moment before stepping out of the way.

It watched Master's feet, glancing up to his face, trying to judge what it should do. [ _testtesttest_ ]  
  
"You can come out, you know, We're not going to hurt you." It looked to the boy who had spoken. The yellow one. He was walking towards it, stopping beside Master. The yellow one flashed a grin. "I'm Kid Flash."

[what]

The yellow one, Kid Flash, was not the master. Only Master could give commands unless stated otherwise. Gold eyes meet the mask as it  _pleaded_ in silence for him to understand. Master cocked his head curiously before seeming to understand. 

"KF's loud," Master said, "but he's right. We're not going to hurt you."

That was invitation enough. It scrambled out of the cage, tripping over its tail and nearly falling onto the cold cement floor. [ _toosmallfreefree_ ]

The scentless one was there, watching. "My name is Superboy." He stretched out a hand. "I know you're afraid. That's okay. No one here is going to hurt you. We just want to help."

It shrunk back from the hand. [ _pleasedon'ttouchmepleaseplease_ ]

Superboy stood up, shoulders hunched inwards. [ _hewastryingtobesmallertoowhy_ ]

"Oh!" The green one grinned. "I'm M'gann! I-I can help you find a name! If you want."

The eyes blinked. [what]

"Never mind them." The blonde one said. "My name's Artemis. Come on."

It stayed crouched on the floor. [ _thiswasallwrongwrongwrongwrong_ ]

"Come on, dude." Master said. "We'll get you some food." 

It scrambled upwards to follow Master. Artemis rolled her eyes.

Even though Master was short, it estimated it was even shorter. It followed them out of the warehouse into the empty lot beyond. It blinked as the eyes adjusted to the darkness. Sending a look around, it realized that there was no vehicle to take it away.

It had barely had a new Master and he was weird - weirder than any of the old masters already.

A strange looking plane materialized, hovering a little way above the lot. A staircase extended down from the ship and the group, sans Master walked into it. It watched it Master warily. Was it to go in the area where the rest of them or was it to be placed in the cargo area?  
  
"You can go in."

It dipped the head and entered the dark plane.  
  
The plane was slightly warm. Even so, it shivered. This was a new Master- a new life! It stood in the main room awkwardly. Master entered in behind it and sat down in one of the chairs. "You can sit too, y'know."  
  
Master hadn't brought the cage. It was still in the warehouse. Where was it to sit? It sat in the entry way.

_[wrongwrongwrongwrong_ ]  
  
M'gann frowned, glancing at Superboy and back to it. "You can sit in a chair. You don't have to sit on the floor."  
  
Beast looked to Master. He nodded, his face knitted together in a strange emotion like one of the people it had been ordered to _end_. Even with a mask, this Master showed so many more emotions than any of her previous masters. At his nod, it moved to the empty chair. Straps burst through the chair and crossed over the body, locking it into place.

[ _fearstuckcan'tmovepleaseno_ ]  
  
Half hour into the flight, Master stood up. "Look, uh, we're going to some place secret so you're going to have to be blindfolded, okay?"

It made sense. If it was to be captured or sold, the current Master would not like to be found. If it knew anything about them, it would be obligated to tell if a new Master asked.

Master hesitated, the blindfold held in his hands. What was he waiting for? His face flashed with indecision. Whatever it was, he gave up waiting for it and tied the cloth around the face, careful not to tie hair into the knot. The heart raced a little harder and the breath came out a little faster. It gulped in air and tried to calm down.

It was just cloth. [ _weak_ ]  
  
Soon after, the nose and ears told it that they had landed. The scents of machines, salt, sweet, and sweat infiltrated the nose. The smell of salt was different. Were they near the ocean? The ears told it that Master and his friends were unbuckled. The straps disappeared from around its body.

[ _freefreefree_ ]  
  
The blindfold was removed. The room it was in was strange - nearly as strange as the plane. The roof was high and rounded unevenly, like the inside of a cave. It moved to stand after an indication was given. It followed Master out into the cave-like room. Most of Master's friends were in it; only Kid Flash was gone.  
  
"So," the blonde girl said, almost conversationally, "What are we going to tell Bats?"  
  
Master sent the blonde an annoyed look before glancing to it. The strange, no-talking conversations from earlier were back. It waited patiently, eyes roaming around the room, trying to memorize it. A strange smell wafted in while Master was having the silent conversation. Its stomach growled.

[pleaseno _weak_ ]

It bit the lip, hoping that Master or his friends had not heard. It began to shake. [ _weakweak_ ] Hadn't it messed up enough already?  
  
Kid Flash was back, but this time he held a bowl in his hands. The group turned to him, held a short silent conversation, and then Kid Flash turned to it. Carefully, as if it were a wild animal, he approached it.   
  
"Hey, are you hungry?" He asked.

It shook its head.

"Yeah, well, you should probably eat anyway." He grinned. "'Sides, we can't let this go to waste, right?"  
  
He held the bowl out to it. [ _itwassohungry_ ]

It took the bowl after Master nodded and began to eat it, ignoring the spoon and gulping the soup down. It could feel everyone watching it. [ _mistakes_ ]

When it had finished the soup Kid Flash took it and sped away.   
  
Master hummed, "uh." It turned to look at his feet immediately. "We're going to take you to meet someone, okay? His name is Batman. Is that okay?"

[what]  
  
It glanced up, staring at Master before nodding slowly. Master led it through a short hallway into a large room. The room made it feel _small_. The ceiling was high though a large, strange cone came down from it. On the left wall (if it could be called that) strange circles were planted into the walls. A dim, blue glow came from inside the circles. Master stopped on a low, circular platform. In the center, a tall, bulky man clad in black stood stiffly. Why were all these people dressed so strangely?  
  
The man, who was probably Batman, approached them and stared at it. The shoulders hunched and it averted the eyes to the floor. This man was _scary_. The alpha waves crashed over it. When he spoke, his voice was deep but not [ _harsh_ ] cruel.

[unexpected]

"My name is Batman," He said, introducing himself. "What's your name?"  
  
"No name." It squeaked. [ _weak_ ] "I will go by any name my Master may choose to give me."   
  
"Master?" He asked and it began to feel very frustrated. How many times had it gone through this today? Besides that, did he want it to say that he was the Master instead of the one wearing the yellow cape? It all made it very, very confused. Taking a deep breath, it answered.  
  
"I-I believe that you are my Master-" It began before it was cut off by Robin.  
  
"But you said earlier whoever holds the remote was your 'master'."  
  
"Yes. But, I now believe that you are my escort." It addressed him, never turning away from the big man in front of her. "You," It addressed Batman. "are regarded, by them, as 'in charge'. That means you are the actual Master."  
  
There was silence for a moment before Batman spoke. "I am not your Master. Nor is Robin or any other members of the team."  
  
[what]

If it was confused before, that was nothing. Were they just trying to trick her? Or maybe... Its thoughts wound to a scientist that it had known.

"How long have you had 'masters'?" Master asked.  
  
It paused. Would these people want its rehearsed answers? They hadn't seemed to like any of her other 'pre-recorded' answers. It bit the lip. The tail coiled around the leg in anxiety. Usually, it just gave a 'there was no time before masters.' or another lie like that. But, it could remember someone warm that would hold it. But that was it. Anything afterwards was just a laboratory or master.

"I-I know there was a time before masters." It heaved in a breath. "I just can't remember it."

[ _Silence_ ]  
  
"M'gann and Artemis, would you go and get her some clothes?" When Batman spoke, the girl he had spoke to jumped before nodding quickly. The two girls gave it a once over before flying or running, as the case may be, through one of the corridors.  
  
Batman turned to the remaining part of the team and directed orders. "Robin, I need for you and Kid Flash to set a room up for her. Superboy, would you tell Red Tornado and Canary that I need to speak with them immediately?"  
  
The boys left doing as they were directed. Batman turned to it and asked, "do you know how to read?"

It nodded.

"Good." He said. "Come here."

It followed him through the hallways and to a kitchen. Fishing a piece of paper out of his pocket, he passed it towards it. "Choose a name. Any name you want."

It glanced at the list. 

_Ada... Annie... Bethany... Brooke... Cara... Charlotte..._

The list went on. 

It thought. The extra teeth made it hard to talk. It could pronounce hard lettered words easier than it could soft. 

"Cara?" It squeaked. "Can I be Cara?" Golden eyes flicked upwards, waiting to see what reaction she would be given. [ _wrongwrongwrong_ ]

"That's a nice name," Batman affirmed. "Are you hungry, Cara?"  
  
It shook its head. "Kid Flash gave me food earlier."  
  
Batman frowned. "I didn't ask if you've already ate, Cara. I asked if you were hungry."

It bit its tongue. "No, sir." [ _weak_ ]  
  
Batman's frown seemed to grow but he didn't comment on her lie. "Come on, Cara, let's go see if the boys are done getting your room ready."  
  
It was grateful that Batman didn't try to make any small-talk on the way to its new holding center.   
  
They entered another corridor. This one had several more doors. The one closest to the living area had its door open. It could hear faint arguing from inside. The two boys, Robin and Kid Flash, were in the room, scowling at each other. They both held a pillow in their hands. Kid Flash held his pillow up and was about to throw it at Robin before Batman intervened.  
  
"Robin! Kid Flash!" Batman didn't need to yell, his voice brought the boys to a staggering halt. Robin smiled sheepishly and dropped his pillow on the bed. Kid Flash did the same. Batman's voice returned to that same, slightly strange, sounding one. "I want you to meet Cara."

It looked at the ground.

"Is Cara's room ready or were you just having a pillow fight the entire time?" Batman asked.  
  
Kid Flash's face turned a deep red color, rivaling that of his hair. "Uh, no. I mean, no, we weren't having a pillow fight. Her room's ready."  
  
While Robin had been embarrassed, the sight of Kid Flash's red face sent him in a laughing fit. Batman didn't seem quite as amused as Robin. "Cara," Batman said, "We're going to leave you to get settled. We'll be back soon with some food, okay?"  
  
It looked up, nodded, and entered the room after the boys had left. The door slid closed and it heard a faint locking noise. It looked around the room. It was relatively empty, save for the bed, closet, and a camera mounted into the wall. The bed was larger than it had thought. Gingerly, it placed a hand on the sheets. [ _soft_ ] 

The camera whirred, but it ignored it.

It stood and went to explore the closet. The closet was relatively small and built into the cave wall. The bottom third of the closet had several shelves while the rest was devoted to clothes. It stood back from the closet and stacked up the pillows that Robin and Kid Flash had been playing with. There was a knock on the door and it jumped up, standing straight. The door slid open to reveal Robin and Kid Flash with a package of saltines.  
  
"I know this isn't exactly gourmet," Robin said handing the package to her, "But we figured that it would be best not to overload your stomach."  
  
[itdoesn'tunderstand]  
  
"You can eat some. Just be careful not to eat too much. They're all for you though," Kid Flash said, flashing a smile.  
  
It nodded and opened the plastic packaging before shoving a cracker in the mouth. Five more quickly followed. While it ate, Kid Flash and Robin began to chat.  
  
"So M'gann and Artie went to the store to buy you some more clothes. M'gann wanted to know what your favorite color is." Kid Flash said. It swallowed the eighth cracker and looked around the room for inspiration. The eyes lingered on its tattered shirt.  
  
"Purple?" It squeaked out. [ _wrongwrongwrong_ ]  
  
"Cool," Kid Flash nodded, "I prefer red, kinda obviously, and Robin here likes blue." While Kid Flash rambled on, Robin pulled out a strange, square device. He typed a few words on it before putting it back into one of his pockets. It finished the package of crackers and Robin took the trash, putting it into another compartment. A device, presumably the one Robin had been messing with a moment earlier, dinged. Robin took it out and frowned.  
  
"Hey, KF, Bat needs us to talk to Red and Canary." Robin turned his attention to it. "Canary's probably going to come talk to you tonight, okay? Well, uh, we gotta go."  
  
Robin and Kid Flash exited the room, the door sliding closed behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \----Age Two----  
> "Good job!" The woman looked cleaner now; her hair was smoothed into a neat ponytail and her clothes, though a bit worn, were not as ragged as they had been. They sat in the kitchen, the mother on one of the two chairs, and the child scaling the walls. The child giggled, temporarily losing balance, but not worrying about it. Her mother would be there to help her; she always was.
> 
>  
> 
> In response to her mother's praise, Bethany smiled a big, fanged grin. Once she reached her destination, the top of the wall, she released her grip. In a moment's notice, her mother was there, holding her in her arms.
> 
>  
> 
> "'Gain!" Her tail swished as she scrambled out of her mother's arms, ready to play.


	3. Chapter Three

It waited patiently, curled underneath of the bed until, eventually, it fell asleep.

The whirring of the camera woke it up. [theywerewatchingnononoweak] It jolted upwards, scrambling out from underneath the bed and stared at the camera. [itwasheredon’thurtitpleaseitwon’tescapenotagain] The ears twitched. Footsteps passed through the hall.

It smelled the air.

M'gann passed by the door and it settled back down at the foot of the bed. It watched the camera [itwouldnotbetricked] as another set of footsteps passed down the hall, stopping at its door.

There was a short knock before the door slid open. A woman, who smelled strongly of lavender, entered.

“Hello," the woman smiled. While this woman did not have the same "alpha" feel to her that most of her masters had, it treated her as if she did. Even though Batman had told it explicitly that these people were not its masters, it would not trust them. The woman inhaled, the noise sounding sharp as it passed through her teeth. "My name is Black Canary."

It nodded, adding the name to its mental database.

"What's your name?" Black Canary asked, moving to sit on the bed.

It hesitated. "Batman has said for me to choose a name. I chose Cara. I can go by another name, if you wish."

"No," the blonde shook her head quickly. "Cara is a beautiful name. How old are you, Cara?"

Its mind flat-lined for a moment. It had never been concerned with this knowledge. As far as it knew, its age only affected its re-sale value. "I do not know. I believe it should be on my files though."

The expressions flickering on Canary's face varied from disgust and indignation to confusion. It huddled into itself more as it tried its best to avoid the woman's sharp gaze. At this point, it would rather have assertive and emotionless Batman. At least it understood his thought process better. A man that was not swayed by his emotions was more predictable than one that was ruled by their emotions.

Confusion must have won out. "Files?" She asked, her blue eyes darkening.

"I have information kept on me. It records things like my powers, height, and… probably my age. It makes me easier to sell."

"Where could we find these?"

It licked its lips nervously. "It's-it's in an SD card in my collar." [nononono _don'tdothatdon'ttell_ ]

The blonde woman hummed thoughtfully and looked at its collar. "Is that…" Canary paused before restarting. "Is that a shock collar?"

It nodded. "Oh. We'll have to get it off for you then - if you'd like."

A lump formed in the throat. No collar - _no remote!_ That meant freedom. The heart began to swell as the mind raced. Then the heart promptly sank again as reality hit it. Freedom to do and be _what?_  It was aware of how different it looked. It knew that if it were allowed to be its own _person_ , it would have to spend the rest of its life in hiding.

Was that really worth it?

It hated to admit it but it craved being around people. Its thoughts drifted to that of a scientist before they were shoved away, angrily. [ _no_ ]

Black Canary waited patiently for an answer. "Even if my collar was taken off, my life would not - could not change."

Canary seemed troubled by her answer. "Did a 'master' tell you that?"

It shook its head.

"Why do you think your life can't change?"

The woman leaned forward as if it was some fascinating puzzle to work out and solve or an animal to dissect. Its spaded tail swished behind its back. It could hear the woman's breathing pattern change slightly. She was scared too. Scared of _it_. But why wouldn't she be? It was created to be a living weapon. A- _A thing_ used only for what a master wished.

The eyes closed for a moment as it stilled the tail and attempted to look smaller and less violent. It wouldn't do to have these people be scared of it. When people -or animals- are scared they lash out, in an attempt to try and protect themselves. It had felt the urge in itself many times. It took a deep breath. [ _calmdownbreathe_ ]

It opened the eyes and took a short glance to the woman's boot where a plastic smell emanated. _The remote_. The woman followed its eyes and looked a little guilty when she realized what it was looking at.

Guilt was better than fear.

Canary repeated her question. "Why do you think your life can't change?"

It nodded choppily, short black hair bouncing. It had to answer. Pets that didn't answer were hurt. [ _backtherenonono_ ] 

Eyes flicked down to the ground, staring at the arched, scaled feet. "I look-I look different. People would be scared of me." It sucked in a breath, unsure whether or not to continue speaking. 

"I don't  _deserve_ it either. I've done bad things." 

Canary gave her a hard, guarded look. 

[ _nononononowrongthingwrongthingmistakemistake_ ]

[stiflebreathingloosenmuscleslessenimpactforce]

[wait]

[wait]

[nopain]

[openeyesobserve]

Instead of an electric shock it had come to expect, a low, calm voice spoke instead.

"Cara," Canary addressed, "this is important. I need you to answer this truthfully." At its nod, Canary continued. "Did you like doing those bad things?"

The tail twitched, curling around the right ankle. Tentatively, the head shook.

The woman nodded, a ghost of a smile drifting onto her face. "Do you like to fight?"

It nodded. It reveled in the thrill of close-death encounters and bathed in the high of adrenaline. [ _yespleaseyesyes_ ]

It loved to fight. But not to kill or injure. Before it had realized it, it had said the last two thoughts aloud. As the last word left the throat, it recoiled instantly, waiting for a blow. It never came.

It peeked the eyes open to find Canary watching it in worry. The body slowly relaxed as it realized it wasn't going to come.

A small smile flitted onto the face. Canary grinned back, relaxing a little more against the headboard. "So, what's your favorite thing to do?"

[what]

To do? It didn't usually have free time to _do_  things. And, when it did, it chose to catch up on all of the precious sleep it had lost. Masters had always been in charge of its schedule. It was never sure of what would come up but it tried her best to be prepared.

"I don’t know." It said, ducking the head. “I’ve never… been given the option.”

"Well then," A sly grin crossed Canary's features. "I guess we'll have to find you one. Let's see…" She trailed off, a mischievous glint entered her eyes. "Do you have any idea of what you can do?"

"I can read," It answered quickly. [thescientist]

"Would you like me to bring you some books tomorrow?"

It blinked. "Please?"

"Okay," Canary stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Canary walked out the door and it was left behind. A strange feeling of loneliness filled it. It pushed the feeling away and climbed _into_ the bed. It was asleep within the hour.

 

 

 

Canary's smile vanished the moment she stepped outside the room. She stayed right outside the door and listened. She heard the creaking of the bed, the rustling of the covers, and then silence. Dinah suddenly understood why Robin had broken protocol. This girl - this grey, emaciated girl - needed help. While she had obviously been broken on the outside, the inside was in even more disrepair. The jutting, hunched shoulders and bright golden eyes that flickered around the room nervously spoke wonders about how broken she was. The fact that you could probably wrap a hand around the girl's thighs was… unsettling.

This girl, who couldn't be older than a child, needed help. While Dinah prided herself for being able to talk to people, she could tell this girl would test her skills. Could she fix this? She didn't know - but she could certainly try. Canary took a deep breath and marched off to the library. She had some books to find.

 

 

 

It felt a sense of panic when it woke. Where was it? Its first response was to smell the air. It calmed down as it recognized the room. Inhaling deeply, it stretched, enjoying the feel of well-rested muscles. It jumped off the bed and shifted into the form of a small, grey fox. It grimaced at the feel of bones breaking and reforming. The pain lasted for half a second. It stretched again, tail stretch up in the air, removing a crick from her back.

After resting a moment, it entered into a vigorous workout of shifting from animal to animal. Nearly half an hour later, it collapsed in human form, gasping for breath. Shifting, though painful, exercised all of its muscles at once.

The door slid open and it jumped up. It looked at the robot in front of it in confusion. It had only encountered robots, besides training simulators, three times in its life. None of those situations had been good either.

The robot matched her gaze evenly. "Hello, Cara. Are you hungry?"

Well then. This was certainly new. It raised the eyebrow, unafraid. Robots, as far as it knew, were just like it. They were created and could only follow orders. And if they didn't? Well, both it and robots could be 'turned' off. At least they were missing the intimidation factor.

It shrugged, looking at the robot with a small amount of pity. At least it could think for itself. No master could stop it from something like thinking, right? It followed the robot down the hallway to the kitchen area it had seen earlier.

"My name is Red Tornado."

It nodded and gazed around the room, memorizing the layout. "Mhmm, were you built for defense?"

It took a moment for the robot to respond. "I am more than AI. I was built to think for myself. But yes, I was originally built for defense and offense."

[what]

"Oh." She eyed the robot a little more time warily. "Are you recording our conversation?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

It shrugged. Whatever this robot thought, it was just programming and machinery - not a master or a human. The robot was silent for moment before it changed the topic.

"What would you like for breakfast, Cara? I recommend a smoothie for your stomach."

The eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What? What's a matter with my stomach?"

The robot didn't answer its question. "If you need to use the restroom, it's that door."

It nodded and excused herself. After relieving herself, it went to wash its hands but paused at the thing looking back at it in the mirror. The image reflected back at it was frightening. [freak] Scraggly black hair, glowing gold eyes, and fangs… Pair that with randomly placed scales and black rimmed eyes.

It understood why people were scared of her. [freakfreakfreak] There was a reason, after all, that it did not want to see what it looked like.

It finished washing its hands, avoiding the mirror. It stalked out of the bathroom, head down and stood off to the side. Red Tornado looked away from the blender to gaze evenly at it.

"Are you okay?" Tornado asked. Though it was hard to tell, it sounded wholly uncomfortable.

It nodded jerkily. No matter what this robot thought, it was just artificial intelligence. It wasn't obligated to tell the robot anything. And, in all honesty, it didn't want to tell it anything. All of this talking was starting to make it uncomfortable. The robot didn't seem to believe it but turned around anyway to pour the smoothie into a cup.

The ears twitched at the sound of laughter from down the hall. It took the proffered cup and returned to its spot by the wall and listened as M'gann and Superboy else came in. M'gann had a distinct smell that it could not describe. The other one, who it could hear but not smell, turned out to be Superboy. The two walked into the kitchen leisurely, a broad grin on the green girl's face. The grin disappeared quickly when she saw it. Another one, though nervous, reappeared on her face.

"Hi, Cara." M'gann said. Superboy nodded. 

It just blinked in response. M'gann wasn't going to have any of that behavior though. "So I got you a lot of purple shirts, 'cause you said that was your favorite color and all." M'gann rambled onwards, "have you met Wolf yet? He's Superboy's pet."

It shook the head, gnarled, thin hands grasping the cup a little tighter in nervousness. This was meaningless chatter. It didn't know what to do.

"Superboy, could you call Wolf? I'm, like, 99% sure that Cara will love him." M'gann gave a dazzling smile to the brawny boy beside her. The boy rolled his eyes, but whistled anyways.

The ears twitched at the high pitched noise, sensitive ears amplifying it. The pounding of heavy footsteps followed.

The dog's shoulders came up to its own. Golden eyes mirrored its own, the two predators watching each other suspiciously. 

The eyes watched the dog's movements. He flopped onto the floor in front of it and rolled over so his stomach was exposed.

"You can pet him. That's what he wants." Superboy said, shuffling his feet.

It nodded and bent down, hand outstretched hesitantly. The dog wiggled underneath it. A small, apprehensive smile escaped it.

"Shouldn't you be leaving for school?" Red Tornado asked.

"Oh!" M'gann gasped and pulled Superboy out of the room. "See you after school, Cara!" She called after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All was quiet in the small apartment. Nothing was out of the ordinary. In the crib beside her mother's twin bed, two light golden eyes laced with brown seemed to glow in the darkness. Unfortunately for her mother, Bethany seemed to be nocturnal. She would go to sleep in the early morning before the first rays of day broke and would be awake and chipper a little after sunset. However, as she grew older, she seemed to be adjusting to a more 'normal' lifestyle. Now however, she was playing with soft, felt blocks in her crib. As she played, she was nearly invisible in the darkness. Her light grey skin, which was growing darker and gaining more scales everyday, hid her unless she happened to grin or swivel her gaze around the room. 
> 
>  
> 
> Her mother was sleeping on the small bed, exhausted from her day at work. Their cycle worked well. Bethany would be carried around in a covered car seat, asleep, while her mother drove around, delivering mail and packages. However, some nights, Bethany just couldn't get to sleep. Carefully, she scaled her confinement and opened the closet door, to find some more toys to play with. A few minutes before four, she retired to bed, toys spread across the floor, her mother would be in a surprise that morning.


	4. Chapter Four

Now that it was just Red Tornado in the room with it and Wolf, it relaxed. It gulped the green smoothie down with a grimace. Once the smoothie was gone, it returned its attention to the dog. It was quickly interrupted by Red Tornado though.

"You're going to be receiving a medical exam soon. Would you like to take a shower before then?"

It nodded.

After the shower, it found a set of clean clothes laid out on the countertop in the girl's locker room. A knee-length, green and blue maxi dress was folded up and rested on top of a pair of neon pink flip flops. It slipped on the dress before gazing at the flip flops indignantly. It sent a glance to the feet. The feet were shaped similar to a cat's. Only the toes and balls of the feet touched the ground. The rest sloped upwards. While this made it run faster, it was hard to find shoes that fit it. It opted to ignore the flip flops. The feet were calloused enough anyway.

The next item, which it hadn't noticed at first, was a small plastic hairbrush. It bit the lip as indecision hit it. If this wasn't for it to use, it didn't want to get in trouble for touching it. On the other hand, it didn't want them to think it hadn't used it if it were allowed.

[why does everything have to be so hard]

With a sigh, it ran the fingers through the hair.

Red Tornado was waiting for it outside of the Girls' Locker Room. He led it to a large room with several different beds. It had only seen one of them before, a stretcher, as Doctor had called it.

"Will you sit there please?" Tornado gestured to an examination table on the opposite wall of the beds. It nodded and hopped on the high, grey bench. Red Tornado went through the basics, cataloging the information. After taking its temperature, he paused and retook it.

"W'a's the matter?" Cara asked as he took it again for the third time.

"It says your temperature is 85," Tornado set the thermostat to the side. "The average human temperature is 98.6."

[that made no sense why was it a problem normal people don’t look like it either]

"Oh."

Tornado continued with the exam, besides its temperature and slight emaciation, it was fine - at least it thought so.

"Would you mind if I take pictures of some of your scars and brandings?" He asked, "It would help if we need to go through any legal issues."

It nodded. As Red Tornado took photo after photo, it explaining how it got them as they went.

"What about this one?" He asked, gesturing to the thin, white scratches on her tail that overlapped cloudy, grey circles the size of a penny.

[NONONONONONONONO]

"No," it whispered, the tail moving away from Tornado and coiling around the leg. The robot stared at it for a minute then nodded, not quite understanding.

After gathering his 'evidence', Tornado walked it back to the room. It felt a tingle around the collar and looked back at the robot who seemed to be busy entering the code into the lock. The door slid open and it walked in.

"Get some rest. Don't repeat what you did this morning." Tornado addressed it sternly as the door slid shut.

Red Tornado walked towards his room, smugly slipping an SD card into a secure position in his frame.

**.o.O.0.O.o.**

Batman stood in front of the main League members. "Robin brought an abused girl to the cave last night." The Dark Knight began and a picture of the girl rose in holographic form in the middle of the table.

Wonder Woman was the first to break the silence. "What do we know about her?"

Batman sighed. This was not going to be a fun explanation. "She was caged in the warehouse that Robin and the team went to last night. Robin brought her to the cave and she's been there since. She has an extreme slave-mentality."

"I took the SD from her collar and watched it." Red Tornado paused. "It's very disturbing and… detailed. It goes through and shows clips of her 'training'. I would recommend hiding this from the team. Even with all they've been through, it's not very age appropriate. It also discusses some of her 'missions'."

Captain Marvel was quickly excused from the room after much complaining.

["I'm a League member too! How come I don't get to see it?"]

Black Canary interrupted. "I've talked to her briefly about that and she seemed to hate what they made her do. I had M'gann listening in – just to make sure that Cara was being honest."

The room was silent before Batman ordered Red Tornado to play the videos. Several scenes passed before them each disturbing in its own way. During each clip, they couldn't see the person abusing Cara. The voices were modified as well to provide the speakers with privacy. Then stats about her were pulled up. Power levels, specialties, and notes about Cara flashed.

"So, now that we know all of this stuff," Green Lantern leaned forward, "what do we do? It's going to take a lot to get her to function like a normal human being – based on what we know about her mind. I don't think we can just put her in jail or something." The rest of the group murmured their agreement.

Red Tornado addressed the group. "I don't think she understands that I'm not just a robot. She treats me differently – I believe – then she treats the rest of you. She still respects me… she just seems more relaxed and open."

Canary thought deeply for a moment before voicing her thoughts. "I think we should continue what we've done. I'll continue to do a daily therapy session – as my schedule allows. It would probably be good if, when she becomes more adjusted, to have her meet some of the league members so she can socialize with people she hasn't met yet."

"So are we just going to keep her inside?" Superman asked, "Her appearance isn't exactly the most… inconspicuous."

"I can probably make a holographic device for her. Until then, we can have her go out at night or in a secluded area." Batman nodded slowly, the plans coming together in his mind.

"I have already taken the role of watching over her." Red Tornado stood at attention. "And Robin has informed me that a camera was installed in her room."

Hawkwoman nodded, pleased with the set up. "What does she do in her spare time?"

A video quickly replaced the hologram of Cara. Cara was sitting in the small room tracing different designs on the floor. They could vaguely tell what she was making. A flower here. A butterfly there. A bird flying. Many animals soon followed.

There was a hesitant knocking on the door and the live video feed switched off. The door opened a crack and Captain Marvel peeked his head through. "Can I come in now?"

Flash snorted at his behavior. It was hard to remember that stuck in the grown man's body was a ten year old kid. Captain Marvel was let back into the room as they conducted the rest of their meeting. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> January 1
> 
> My name is Cara. I look different than most people. They treated me badly because I scared them. Black Canary helps me a lot. One of the things she said was to record my past. 
> 
> \-------Age 1-------  
> The small child was curled into a tight ball, pointed tail wrapped around her small grey body. Peeking a golden eye open, she snuck a look outside of her crib. The smell of smoke had woken her from her nap and now that she was awake, she could hear the crackle of wood as flames lapped the walls of her room. She cried, begging for her mother to come rescue her as she often did. A few moments after her wailing had first begun, a haggard looking young woman came rushing in, looking far older than she actually was. The woman's blonde hair was messy and sprawled in several different directions.
> 
> At the sight of the woman, the child stopped crying and held her hands out to be held. 
> 
> The woman grabbed the child before running through the hall and outside the building. A group of people were outside of the house, waiting for them. Rocks, sticks, and other odds and ends were thrown in their direction. The mother wrapped herself around her child as best as she could, running from the scene and into the nearby forest. All the while, she did her best to sing lullabies, in an attempt to soothe the frightened baby.


End file.
